Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Sullivan.
Hi Kim, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Kim Sullivan. I am a professional counselor and play therapist in Round Rock.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to work with people and animals. The story of how I got where I am today is a long one because I had to try a lot of different careers first before finding one that felt right. The search started when I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin back in the early 80’s. I loved biology, nature and had fond memories of my own science teachers, so I majored in secondary science education. It seemed the logical career choice, but teaching just never seemed to fit me. I tried changing schools, changing subjects, even changing the grade levels I taught. At one point, I explored other options like working as an educator at the Austin Nature Center or as a lab technician at Austin Community College. Looking back, it was as if I was trying to make a complete picture out of a handful of puzzle pieces.
My turning point came when a series of life-shaking experiences introduced me to the world of mental health. The stress relief and inspiration I found in spending time outside with our own horses re-introduced me to the healing powers of animals. I started a small pony party business as an attempt at bringing kids and animals together, then later began making volunteer therapeutic visits with my miniature horse and donkey. It still didn’t fit, but some of the pieces were beginning to connect.
After a break to focus on myself and my family, I felt ready to return to full time employment. My previous district wasn’t hiring, so I searched the internet and followed a link to a link to a link… you get the idea. I ended up working for UT Charter Schools, as a secondary science composite teacher for their Meridell campus (Meridell is a residential psychiatric treatment facility). Teachers were considered part of each unit’s treatment team. One day Mr. David Reed, our unit’s therapist at that time, said to me “Ms. Kim, have you ever considered becoming a therapist yourself?” I still remember my answer – “No way, Mr. Dave, I’m too old to go back to school!” I was in my late 40’s by this time.
Encouraged by my colleagues at Meridell, I researched Master’s programs in counseling, hesitated, and researched some more. My husband and I had discussions about the practicality of it. We already had two children in college, surely we couldn’t afford for me to stop working and add a third college tuition to our load! At this point, I was ready to end my teaching career, but my husband was skeptical for many solid reasons. Finally, I stopped pushing for the answer I wanted and prayed about it. I did what is so difficult for me – I let go of trying to control my next steps, stopped trying to make things happen, and simply waited for direction from Above. Three days later, just as I was getting ready for work, my husband sat down in front of me and stated, “Let’s talk about you going back to school.” There was my answer!
I chose to attend Texas State University just because it was convenient, but little did I know that Dr. Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig was joining the TSU faculty at about the same time as I began attending classes there. Like me, she also had a keen interest in the healing powers of animals. This was important because she went on to found the TSU Animal Assisted Counseling Academy in 2016… the puzzle pieces really started to come together. Two years after I graduated, I attended the AAC Academy in 2017.
My original plan was to complete the Academy with my therapy donkey, Lewis, but logistics didn’t line up (I couldn’t just load a 250-pound donkey into the back seat of my car and keep him inside in a kennel like I could with a dog). Instead, I ended up working with our rescued blue heeler, Gordon, who turned out to be an unexpectedly star student! Gordon and I passed our certification exam and became a Certified AAC team in 2018. He is now my counseling partner and participates in sessions with clients of all ages.
Just prior to the COVID, the last pieces fell in place. I was able to attend in-person trainings for Equine-Partnered Play Therapy and Natural Lifemanship – both equine focused – just a few months before the shutdown. The shutdown itself provided a catalyst for more online trainings to be developed, making it possible for me to attend previously out-of-reach classes and seminars virtually from home.
Today I am well into my second career while many of my friends are entering retirement – and I couldn’t be happier. I have the pleasure of working with some of my best four-footed friends as we work together to help people. I learn more about my animal partners every day and have been blessed with surprise rescue babies (beagle puppies and a baby donkey) that I am currently training as future counseling partners. I have been able to return to the AAC Academy as a trainer, helping to teach more practitioners and their animal partners.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road has been far from smooth. Neither of my parents attended college, so college life was new territory for me. I tried a lot of different careers before I found this one. Sometimes I knew what I wanted to do but just couldn’t find the right training to get there. Other times I doubted that I could really do the things I wanted to do. But looking back, each twist and turn in my path had a purpose. I wouldn’t be the counselor I am today if I had gotten here any other way.
My greatest challenge has always been my impatience. I am continually working on learning to let go, trust more, and simply focus on what I can learn and do today. I have so many ideas of where I’d like to go next – writing and illustrating a children’s book about my donkey, Lewis; more community outreach; training and supervising other professionals; research in donkey-assisted therapy; and a long-range dream of pairing donkey rescue with counseling – I get excited about the possibilities. I have to remind myself that I can’t do everything all at once!
My main barrier to moving forward now is not having a suitable location where I can offer equine-assisted counseling. I need a private area, preferably covered, where clients would have room for interacting with a pony or donkey. It would be helpful to also have a separate space for parents to wait while their kids are in sessions.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Heart and Soul Counseling?
I founded Heart and Soul Counseling in 2018. What I do is best summed up by my tagline: “Facilitating growth and healing for all ages through the therapeutic power of play, expressive arts, and the human-animal bond.” Change and trauma can strongly affect how a person thinks, feels, and operates. Like many other counselors, I help my clients make sense of confusing events, tame overwhelming emotions and build up their sense of self-worth. For younger children, this is done through their natural language of play. I help older clients in a similar way using more directive activities, art and by creating scenes in sand using meaningful symbols.
What makes me stand out from many other counselors is that I am trained and certified to work with an animal partner. My canine counseling partner – a blue heeler named Gordon – joins me in the office and my miniature donkey, Lewis, joins me in traveling out into the community and working with groups at a local behavioral health hospital. My animal partners and I work together as a team to offer research-based interventions tailored to each client’s individual therapeutic needs. Some clients involve Gordon directly in their play (he might consent to dressing up or making paint paw prints), others learn to communicate their needs to Gordon, while still others are encouraged by his quiet presence. Lewis helps me to teach others about overcoming stereotypes, being yourself, finding calm, and thinking before reacting.
Each animal partner is a vital part of our counseling sessions and enriches clients’ therapeutic experiences. Their honest presence, desire for connection, and self-regulation can affect clients in a variety of positive ways. Research supports that animal-assisted counseling can potentially decrease depression and anxiety, increase positive social behaviors, increase client motivation to participate in counseling, and increase a client’s sense of safety in counseling. For example, I have witnessed child clients playing out trauma and moving forward in healing after months of play therapy sessions once Gordon was introduced into those sessions. I can’t help but think that Gordon affected this.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was pretty quiet, yet creative and with a big heart. Some of my best times were spent alone with my own pets. We always had dogs and cats in my family, plus my grandfather had horses. I have so many happy memories of hours spent on horseback with grandfather. He had a quiet courage that gave me confidence on horseback, too. I felt at peace and so connected with him and his horses.
I think having a bit of an introverted personality helped me to flourish as an only child. I loved exploring, playing outdoors, and being creative. I was fascinated by nature and science and loved catching insects and tadpoles. When my cousin was in town, she and I would spend hours exploring the creek and back pastures at our grandparents’ house. Of course, we didn’t have the internet back then, so we learned and created by doing, learning from our mistakes, and generally enjoying life in the moment.
I am sure that all of this influenced the type of counselor I am today as well as the modalities I offer my clients. Research shows that the most important part of any type of counseling is the quality of the therapeutic relationship. A counselor must be authentically themselves. A vital part of me developing into a successful counselor was for me to sift all the accepted counseling theories and interventions through my own faith, beliefs, and interests and to offer only those that I could genuinely offer.
I find it interesting that I originally chose to be a high school science teacher because I thought elementary education was too silly – and I was way too practical and scientific for that (wow, was I naïve!). Yet here I am almost 35 years later – a play therapist, applying “serious” science to child-like playfulness for my clients of all ages. Now both worlds have been brought together. I am finally understanding the larger picture.
Contact Info:
- Email: Kim@heartandsoultx.com
- Website: https://www.heartandsoultx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lewisthedonkey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LewisTheDonkey
